Resurrection: The Fulfillment of Promise (Acts 13:30-38) | Worship Service | Resurrection Sunday Mor

Kootenai Church

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00:00

Into your kingdom I know it sounds crazy

01:02

What I saw When the sun came up on the brightest day

01:15

From the darkest night of all I saw the man die

01:28

In the tomb Oh, cause

01:36

I saw it with my own two eyes When he stepped into the room

01:43

I've seen too much

01:50

Too much to deny I've seen too much

01:58

Too much to say goodbye So we scattered to the four winds

02:12

To tell him what we know I get so tired and the doubt creeps in And the doubt won't let

02:27

And it's all I can do to get up in the morning All I can do to stand up in the storm

02:35

When all I remember is the passing form A glimpse of the glory before it was gone

02:42

And I get so tired of this ridicule But I cannot deny what

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I know to be true Cause I've seen too much And I do

02:57

Where else can I go, Lord? Where else can

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I go but to you? I've seen too many faces

03:17

All shining like the sun I've seen too many skies on fire

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Like the face of the Holy One I've seen too many eyes wide open

03:39

That once were so blind The beauty of the same love

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Same love that opened mine I've seen too much

04:00

Too much to deny I've seen too much

04:07

Too many points of light I know too much

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I saw the scars and touched his skin That's how it was

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And I cannot hold it in I've seen so much that cannot be explained

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And I realize it's a mystery of faith And my friend was dead and he walked out of the grave

04:47

Saw too much into the eye

04:53

And there was none left

05:03

I've seen too much Too much to deny

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I've seen too much Too much to say goodbye

05:16

Too many points of light Too much to say goodbye

05:23

As we gather round this table

05:56

We remember and proclaim Christ has died,

06:02

Christ has risen Christ will come again There's nothing to fear

06:11

And everything to gain And so we gather here to remember

06:18

To remember and proclaim Every footstep tells the story

06:31

As the people join the feast We remember his blood and body

06:40

Broken for you and me One step and we remember

06:47

The other we proclaim His death until he comes

06:53

Oh, he's coming back He's coming back again And every time we break the bread

07:02

We drink the wine I can hear the song in my heart, in my head

07:10

And I sing along We remember and we proclaim

07:18

His death until he comes again Christ has died,

07:28

Christ has risen Christ will come again Wine with friends and neighbors

07:39

A different kind of table

07:49

We remember just the same This feast, it is a battle

07:57

That we wage against the night This joy is just a shadow

08:02

Of the resurrection Of the resurrection light

08:07

And every time we break the bread We hear the song in my heart, in my head

08:20

And I sing along We remember and we proclaim

08:27

His death until he comes again We remember and we proclaim

08:36

Christ has died, Christ has risen Christ will come again We remember and we proclaim

08:46

His death until he comes again We remember and we proclaim

08:54

Christ has died, Christ has risen Christ will come again I made my way to the western wall

09:42

As the sun went down I could hear them call for you And the words

09:48

I heard in the ancient song Were the same as the ones I've sung so long to you

09:55

It felt so thin Cause you are the rock and the cornerstone

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You are the temple of flesh and bone And you are the door and the way back home again

10:15

To that city that we long for Though we feel so far away

10:21

Where the dawn will drive away our tears New Jerusalem someday

10:31

Maybe next year Na na na na Next year

10:39

Na na na na At the western wall

10:45

I bowed my head I knew that every word I read was true As a prophet spoke from another age

10:55

And the song rose up from the sacred page to you It felt so near I never felt so far away

11:09

But you tore the curtain and shook the ground The saints woke up and they walked around And resurrection came to town that day

11:20

Like in that city that we long for Though we feel so far away

11:25

Where the dawn will drive away our tears New Jerusalem someday

11:36

Maybe next year Na na na na This is the place where Abraham cut loose the boy

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And he killed the ram instead And this is the place where Jesus said

12:08

You could tear down the temple and he'd raise it from the dead It felt so real

12:17

I never felt so close to you So I'll weep and dance at the western wall

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And sing of the way you're making all things new Cause the kingdom's here

12:31

But I know the kingdom's moving in I'll meet you here next year

12:41

In the new Jerusalem In the new Jerusalem In that city that we long for Though we feel so far away

12:53

Where the dawn will drive away our tears New Jerusalem someday

13:03

Maybe next year Next year

13:14

Next year in the new Jerusalem Na na na na

13:19

Next year in the new Jerusalem Next year, next year, next year

13:26

In the new Jerusalem Next year, next year, next year

13:32

In the new Jerusalem Next year Every stone that makes you stumble

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And cuts you when you fall Every serpent here that strikes your heel

14:12

To curse you when you crawl The king of love one day will crush them all

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And every sad seduction And every clever lie

14:27

Every word that woos and wounds The pilgrim children of the sky

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The king of love will break them by and by And you will rise up in the end

14:45

You will rise up in the end The night is cruel

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But the day is coming soon When you'll rise up in the end

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If a thief had come to plunder

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When the children were longer See this

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Would not his anger burn Would he not repay the tyrant

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In the day of his return But wait, await the day of his return

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Cause he will rise up in the end He will rise up in the end

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He is patient in his anger

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But he will rise up in the end When the stars come crashing to the sea

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When you see the sun descending in the sky

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The chains of death will fall around your feet Do you feel the world is broken?

17:25

We do Do you feel the shadows deepening?

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We do But do you know that all the dark won't stop the light from getting through?

17:42

We do Do you wish that you could see it all made new?

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We do Is all creation groaning?

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Is it new? Is the glory?

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Is it good that we remind ourselves of this? It is

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Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole?

18:41

Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?

18:47

The Lion of Judah Who conquered the grave

18:53

He is David's Root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slave

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Is he worthy? Is he worthy?

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Of all blessing and honor and glory Is he worthy?

19:18

He is Does the

19:26

Father truly love us? He does Does the

19:32

Spirit move among us? And is

19:39

Jesus our Messiah? Hold forever those he loves? Does our

19:49

God intend to dwell again with us? The life -child among us

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His glory revealed In me, save me

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And bury me, carry My sins far away

20:17

Rising, he justified Freely, forever One day he's coming

20:24

O glorious day O glorious day

21:33

Hallelujah, hallelujah This is the church that plays rock music

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Really? Yeah The one behind the gas station imputed me at the elementary school

22:24

And I'm like, no, they don't do rock music We have planes and airplanes and lasers

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And we give away a car every week Interception Like this could be

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Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin

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Clothed among men, my example is he The Word became flesh and the life -child among us

23:20

His glory revealed Living, he loved me

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Dying, he saved me And burying, he carried My sins far away

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Rising, he justified Freely, forever One day he's coming

23:40

O glorious day O glorious day

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In flesh, clothed in immortality

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The firstborn from the dead He rises, and his work's already done

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So he's resting as he rises To reclaim the right he won So crown him, the

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Lord has dominion over him

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So my heart beats with the rhythm of the saints As I look for the seeds the king has sown

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To burst up from their graves I know, I know He took one breath

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And put death to death Raise your sting

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O grave, how grave is your defeat And he took one breath

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Raise your sting

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O grave, how grave is your defeat And so the winner dies

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With a blast of icy wind Like a mournful cry It's giving up the ghost again

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Another sheet of snow Melts away to golden green Look at Peter go

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He's racing to the tomb to see Where has my Jesus gone?

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He is not dead He is risen Risen indeed

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Now the flowers bloom

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Like a song of freedom Behold the earth is new If only for the season

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And so the seed that died for you Becomes the seedling Just put your hand into the womb

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That bought your healing And let your He is not dead

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He is risen Risen indeed

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The curse is the earth in sorrow

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Mary, the sun will rise again Mary, the sun will rise again

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Daughter, listen, listen Daughter, listen, he speaks your name

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And Father Abraham Could not have dreamed of this Could never understand

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The end of all those promises How all the pieces fit Every star and grain of sand

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Is safely hid in Jesus' hand Let every tongue confess

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He is not dead He is risen

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Risen He is not dead

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He is risen Risen indeed

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Mary, the sun will rise again

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Daughter, listen, listen Daughter, listen, he speaks your name

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Lord, remember me when you come

34:18

Into your kingdom Lord, remember me when you come

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Into your kingdom Who can ascend the hill of the

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Lord The one who utters no untrue word Whose hands are clean, whose heart is pure Who can ascend that hill

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There is none righteous, no, not one We are prodigal daughters and wayward sons

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We don't know the half of the hurt we've done The countless we have killed Our priests, our cheats, our prophets, our liars

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We know what the law requires But we pile our sins up higher and higher Who can ascend that hill

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And I am a sheep who's gone astray I have turned aside in my own way

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Have mercy on me, son of David Into your kingdom

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Lord, remember me Into your kingdom

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Alleluia Raise your joys and triumphs high

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Alleluia Be quiet Alleluia Nice thing

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Alleluia Dying once, he all does say

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Alleluia Love's redeeming work is done

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Alleluia Fought the fight, the battle won

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Alleluia Christ has opened paradise

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Alleluia Love's redeeming work is done

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Alleluia Christ has opened paradise

38:52

I can't hear any of the female vocals You might sing it here or there a little bit

38:58

Can you sing on this one so I can get your mic dialed? Are we supposed to test? Testing one, two, three

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Testing one, two, three Testing one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight

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Christ the Lord is risen today Alleluia Sons of man and angels say

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Alleluia Raise your joys and triumphs high Alleluia Sing the earth and earth reply

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Alleluia Lives again our glorious King Alleluia Where old death is now rising

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Alleluia The weak ones see all that's slain Alleluia Where thy victory,

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O grave Love's redeeming work is done

40:38

I think we're almost there

41:10

Can you turn the piano monitor for her up just a little bit? Just the piano itself

41:23

Okay, thank you, Nate Thanks, I work on it

42:24

What songs do I know? All of a sudden

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I forget every song I've ever learned I can play the Narnia song I've seen too much

42:58

Too much to deny I've seen too much

43:06

Too many points of light I know too much

43:14

I saw the scars and touched his skin That's how it was

43:19

I've seen so much

43:29

We cannot visit a mystery of sin

43:37

But my friend was dead and he went to the eye

44:01

I've seen too much Too much to deny

44:09

I've seen too much Too much to say goodbye

44:16

Too many points of light Too much to say goodbye

44:49

As we gather round this table We remember and proclaim

44:59

Christ has died, Christ has risen Christ will come again

45:07

There's nothing to fear And everything to gain And so we gather here to remember

45:17

To remember and proclaim Every footstep tells the story

45:30

As the people join the feast Remember his blood and body

45:38

Broken for you and me One step and we remember

45:46

The other we proclaim His death until he comes Oh, he's coming back

45:53

He's coming back again And every time we break the bread

46:01

We drink the wine I can hear the song In my heart, in my head

46:09

And I sing along We remember his death until he comes again

46:23

Proclaim Christ has died, Christ has risen Christ will come again

46:34

Friends and neighbors To celebrate again

46:43

Found a different kind of table We remember just the same

46:53

This feast, it is a battle That we wage against the night And this joy is just a shadow

47:01

Of the resurrection Of the resurrection light

47:06

And every time we break the bread We drink the wine

47:14

I can hear the song In my heart, in my head And I sing along His death until he comes again

47:35

He's died, Christ has risen Christ will come again We remember his death until he comes again

47:48

We remember Christ has risen

47:55

Christ will come again I made my way to the western wall

48:40

As the sun went down I could hear them call for you And the words

48:47

I heard in the ancient song Were the same as the ones I've sung so long to you

48:54

And I touched the wall The veil had never felt so thin Cause you are the rock and the cornerstone

49:06

You are the temple of flesh and bone And you are the door and the way back home again

49:13

To that city that we long for Though we feel so far away

49:19

Where the dawn will drive away our tears New Jerusalem someday

49:30

Maybe next year Na, na, na, na, na Next year

49:38

Na, na, na, na, na At the western wall

49:44

I bowed my head I knew that every word I read was true As the prophet spoke from another age

49:54

And the song rose up from the sacred page to you Never felt so near I never felt so far away

50:08

But you tore the curtain and shook the ground The saints woke up and they walked around And resurrection came to town that day

50:18

Like in that city that we long for Though we feel so far away

50:24

Where the dawn will drive away our tears And we'll meet in the

50:32

New Jerusalem someday Maybe next year Na, na, na, na, na

50:56

This is the place where Abraham cut loose the boy And he killed the ram instead

51:02

And this is the place where Jesus said

51:07

You could tear down the temple and he'd raise it from the dead I felt so close to you

51:21

So I'll weep and dance at the western wall And sing of the way you're making all things new

51:28

Cause the kingdom's here But I know the kingdom's moving in Maybe I'll meet you here next year

51:39

In the New Jerusalem In the New Jerusalem Like in that city that we long for Though we feel so far away

51:52

Where the dawn will drive away our tears And we'll meet in the

52:00

New Jerusalem someday Maybe next year Next year in the

52:14

New Jerusalem Na, na, na, na, na Next year in the

52:20

New Jerusalem Next year, next year, next year

52:25

In the New Jerusalem Next year, next year, next year

53:01

Every stone that makes you stumble And cuts you when you fall

53:07

Every serpent here that strikes your heel To curse you when you crawl

53:14

The king of love one day will crush them all And every sad seduction

53:24

And every clever lie Every word that woos and wounds the pilgrim

53:30

Children of the sky The king of love will break them by and by And you will rise up in the end

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Rise up in the end

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The night is cruel

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But the day is coming soon When you'll rise up in the end

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If a thief had come to plunder

54:14

When the children were alone If he ravaged every son

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Would not the father see this? Would not his anger burn?

54:30

Would he not repay the tyrant In the day of his return?

54:37

Await, await the day of his return Cause he will rise up in the end

54:46

Rise up in the end

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His anger But he will rise up in the end When the stars come crashing to the sea

55:13

When you see the sun descending in the sky

55:24

The chains of death will fall around your feet And do you feel the world is broken?

56:24

We do Do you feel the shadows deepen?

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But do you know that all the dark won't stop the light from getting through?

56:44

Wish that you could see it all made new We do

56:56

Is all creation groaning? Is a new creation coming?

57:10

Is the glory of the Lord to be the light within our midst?

57:19

Is it good that we remind ourselves of this?

57:26

It is Is anyone worthy?

57:36

Is anyone whole? Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?

57:46

The Lion of Judah Who conquered the grave He is

57:53

David's root And the lamb who died to ransom the slave Is he worthy?

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Is he worthy? Of all blessing and honor and glory

58:10

Is he worthy? Does the

58:24

Father truly love us? Does the

58:31

Spirit move among us? And is

58:37

Jesus our Messiah? Hold forever those he loves? Does our

58:47

God intend to dwell again with us? Is anyone worthy?

59:03

Is anyone whole? Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?

59:13

The Lion of Judah Who conquered the grave

59:18

He is David's root And the lamb who died to ransom the slave

59:25

From every people and tribe Every nation and tongue

59:31

He is made as a kingdom and priest to God Reign with the

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Son Is he worthy?

59:46

Of all blessing and honor and glory Is he worthy?

59:54

Is he worthy? Is he worthy?

01:00:07

Is he worthy? Is he worthy?

01:01:01

He's the image of the invisible God The firstborn of creation

01:01:10

And by him all things were created In heaven and earth

01:01:16

Seen and unseen Rulers, dominions, and powers, and kings

01:01:22

He holds all things All things

01:01:28

All things together He holds all things

01:01:35

All things All things together

01:01:43

He's the head of the body, the church The firstborn from the dead

01:01:52

So in everything he is the head And the fullness of God Is pleased to dwell

01:02:00

In him to reconcile to himself All things

01:02:10

All things together He holds all things

01:02:17

All things All things together

01:02:23

And for him all things remain

01:02:30

Through him and for him All things were before All things in him

01:02:38

All things hold together Through him and for him

01:02:48

Through things remain He is before all things

01:02:55

And in all things All together He made peace

01:03:06

He made peace By the blood of His cross

01:03:11

He made peace He made peace He made peace

01:03:17

He made peace By the blood of His cross He holds all things

01:03:23

All things Together He holds all

01:03:29

Things together

01:03:36

He holds all Things together

01:04:28

His blood begins to flow

01:04:51

What was dead A moment ago And His heart beats

01:04:58

Now everything Has changed Cause the blood that brought us peace with God Is racing through His veins

01:05:06

And His heart beats His living lungs

01:05:20

Expand The heavy air Surrounding death Turns to breath again

01:05:26

He breathes out His word and flesh once more

01:05:31

The Lamb of God Slain for us Is a lion ready to rule And His heart beats

01:05:41

So crown Him The Lord is your defeat

01:06:12

I know it's Immortality The firstborn from the dead

01:06:34

His work's already done So He's resting

01:06:40

As He rises to reclaim The bride He once had

01:06:49

So crown Him So my heart beats

01:08:10

With the rhythm of the saints As I look for the seeds The King has sown to burst up From their graves

01:08:17

I know, I know He took one Is your sting

01:08:32

Oh great is your defeat I know it

01:08:51

Oh great How great is your defeat And so the winner dies

01:09:58

With a blast of icy wind Like a mournful cry It's giving up the ghost again

01:10:04

Another sheet of snow Melts away to golden green Look at Peter go

01:10:10

He's racing to the tomb to see Where has my Jesus Gone He's Gone He's Gone He's Gone Try something new they said

01:11:27

He's gone for two weeks And he wants something new today

01:11:33

I don't know Alright, welcome to church this morning Would you guys stand please as we sing

01:11:39

Oh what a day Let the joy begin

01:12:05

When our tongues Ring out Let our hearts Be glad Love has vanished

01:12:15

Now See the empty Cross All our debts are gone

01:12:45

He rose up from the grave

01:12:56

To See the great Moses He has left this place

01:13:30

Yay What a glorious day A song with him forever

01:14:20

Oh what a day He rose up from the grave

01:14:33

What a day Oh Stay standing and we're gonna sing

01:14:50

Christ the Lord is risen today Christ the

01:14:58

Lord is risen today Alleluia Sons of men

01:15:06

And angels say Alleluia Raise your joys

01:15:14

And triumphs high Alleluia Singing heavens and earth

01:15:22

Reply Alleluia Lives again

01:15:32

Our glorious King Alleluia Where old death

01:15:40

Is now thy sting Alleluia Dying once he

01:15:48

All doth save Alleluia Where thy victory

01:15:55

O great Alleluia Most redeeming work

01:16:07

Is done Alleluia Fight the

01:16:13

Fight the battle won Alleluia Death in vain

01:16:21

Forbids him rise Alleluia Christ has opened

01:16:29

Paradise Alleluia As fell the ocean

01:16:54

To his hand Who has numbered Every grain of sand

01:17:01

Kings and nations Scramble at his voice

01:17:06

All creation Rises to Rejoice The Lord Has Adorned The only

01:17:27

God Has given

01:17:54

Any of his word Who can Teach the one

01:18:00

Who knows all Who has

01:18:43

Felt the nails upon His head Bearing all

01:18:49

The guilt of sinful men Not Eternal Humble to the grave

01:18:57

Jesus Savior risen Now to reign

01:19:08

Seated On his throne Come let us adore

01:19:13

Him Behold Our king

01:19:19

Nothing can Seated on his throne

01:19:36

Come let us Adore Him Behold Our king

01:19:45

Nothing can compare Come let us Adore Him You may be seated

01:24:42

He is risen I want to thank everybody for their help this morning with the breakfast

01:24:50

It was a fantastic breakfast for those who donated and helped cook and clean and set up That was much appreciated

01:24:57

And I just want to briefly announce that we have a new round of fellowship dinners starting up for the summer So if you want to be involved with that The fellowship dinners which is where you get together with some other families and you rotate homes and enjoy meals together get to know each other

01:25:10

You can sign up for that out on the welcome table I think and then we'll send out an email later this week and we'll let everybody know how you can do that online

01:25:18

And then on the back counter here by the kitchen there is some leftover food from this morning's breakfast So if you feel so inclined and you want to grab some of those supplies on your way out, they're there for the taking

01:25:28

Take whatever it is that you would like Turn now if you will please to Acts chapter 13 for our scripture reading

01:25:34

This is not the sermon part of the service We're going to read scripture together and then

01:25:40

I'll ask you to stand and we will pray together Acts 13 and this is the passage that we're going to be looking at for the message today

01:25:53

The book of Acts chapter 13 and we're going to begin reading at verse 13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia but John left them and returned to Jerusalem But going on from Perga they arrived at Pisidian Antioch and on the

01:26:11

Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down After the reading of the law and the prophets the synagogue officials sent to them saying

01:26:19

Brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say it. Paul stood up and motioning with his hands said

01:26:25

Men of Israel and you who fear God listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt and with an uplifted arm he led them out from it

01:26:36

For a period of about 40 years he put up with them in the wilderness when he had destroyed 7 nations in the land of Canaan he distributed their land as an inheritance all of which took about 450 years

01:26:49

After these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul the son of Kish a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years

01:26:57

After he had removed him he raised up David to be their king concerning whom he also testified and said

01:27:03

I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my heart who will do all my will. From the descendants of this man according to promise

01:27:11

God has brought to Israel a savior Jesus After John had proclaimed before his coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel and while John was completing his course he kept saying

01:27:22

What do you suppose that I am? I am not he but behold one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet

01:27:28

I am not worthy to untie Brethren, sons of Abraham's family and those among you who fear

01:27:34

God to us the message of this salvation has been sent For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers recognizing neither him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every

01:27:43

Sabbath fulfilled these by condemning him and though they found no ground for putting him to death they asked

01:27:49

Pilate that he be executed when they had carried out all that was written concerning him they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb but God raised him from the dead and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem the very ones who are now his witnesses to the people and we preach to you the good news of the promises made to the fathers that God has fulfilled this promise to our children and that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second psalm you are my son today

01:28:17

I have begotten you as for the fact that he raised him up from the dead no longer to return to decay he has spoken in this way

01:28:23

I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David therefore he also says in another psalm you will not allow your holy one to undergo decay for David after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay but he whom

01:28:40

God raised did not undergo decay therefore let it be known to you brethren that through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and through him everyone who believes is freed from all things from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses therefore take heed so that the things spoken of in the prophets may not come upon you behold you scoffers and marvel and perish for I am accomplishing a work in your days a work which you will never believe though someone should describe it to you you stand with me as we pray let's bow our heads our father we are grateful to be able to be here together and to worship you today we thank you for calling us out of darkness and into light and giving us the hope of eternal life found in Jesus Christ in him alone we thank you for the sure blessings of David that which you promised that you have fulfilled in raising

01:29:31

Jesus Christ from the dead we thank you that in his resurrection we are able to stand and have forgiveness that we are justified through that we thank you for the salvation that has been accomplished in that once and for all sacrifice and to the resurrection that followed on the third day because of that we have hope eternal we have hope of eternal life we have the promise of bodily resurrection the new heavens and a new earth we know that all the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our

01:29:59

God and of his Christ because you have promised you will fulfill every last detail of our salvation we know that we believe that and we are certain of it because Christ is risen he is risen indeed and in him we have hope for eternal life and hope for salvation and we praise you and bless you for the forgiveness of sins that that entails and that we can stand before you righteous and praise you our great

01:30:24

God and our King we thank you for these things in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen. And worship you

01:32:16

Lord 1 Corinthians 15 verse 53 it says for this corruptible must put on the incorruptible and this mortal must put on immortality but when this corruptible puts on the incorruptible and this mortal puts on immortality then will come about the word that is written death is swallowed up in victory oh death where is your victory oh death where is your sting now the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our

01:32:52

Lord Jesus Christ I rock in my best treasure of my loving soul my

01:33:16

God like you there is no other true delight is found in you alone your grace of wealth and deeds and power your love exceeds the heavens reach your truth the fountain of wisdom my highest good and my strong defender of my weary heart my strong to fight the cruel deceiver and my shield against the shameful toss my soul when enemies surround me my hope when times of sorrow rise my joy when trials are abounding your faithfulness my refuge in the light gracious Savior of my ruling heart my guilt and cross laid on your shoulders in my place you suffer bed and eye you know the pain and death are conquered you broke and shame you rose the grave and death are conquered you broke my body sin and shame oh

01:35:55

Lord my rock and my redeemer may all my days bring glory to your

01:36:05

Name may all my days with your

01:36:30

Bibles open to Acts chapter 13 let's bow our heads before we begin our gracious God we thank you for your word for the testimony of eye witnesses who have borne that testimony of a risen

01:36:47

Christ and they have written down the revelation concerning you and your redemptive plan and what has been accomplished in the sacrifice and Resurrection of Jesus Christ Your word is clear, it is perfect, it is true, and we pray today as we spend this time meditating upon it and studying it, reading it, and looking at it together that you would be honored and that Christ may be exalted here in our midst.

01:37:10

May your spirit be our guide to this end and your word the center of our focus. Teach us, we pray, through your spirit and that you would be glorified here through this time.

01:37:19

That is what we ask in Christ's name, amen. Well, if Christ has not risen, then your faith is useless.

01:37:25

The Apostle Paul could not have said that any more straightforward or clear than he does in 1 Corinthians 15.

01:37:31

And so today as Christians, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the resurrection is not just one aspect or one element of the

01:37:39

Christian faith. It's not just one belief that we have that sort of contributes to making Christianity what it is.

01:37:45

Rather, the resurrection is the central doctrine of the Christian faith. It is the doctrine upon which all of the other doctrines rest.

01:37:52

Whether you're talking about the inspiration of scripture, I mean, obviously the inspiration of scripture is not true if the resurrection did not happen because scripture testifies that Christ has been raised from the dead.

01:38:02

The doctrine of the Trinity is not a true doctrine if the resurrection did not happen because Christ claimed to be one with the

01:38:07

Father and yet not be the Father and yet be the Son of the eternal God. And so if he did not rise from the dead, then the doctrine of the

01:38:14

Trinity is not true. The doctrine of the second coming of Christ is not true if he has not risen because if he didn't rise again after his death on the cross, if he didn't rise three days later, then he's not coming again.

01:38:25

The doctrine of eternal judgment, the doctrine of eternal life, the doctrine of heaven, none of those doctrines are true if Christ has not risen.

01:38:31

So the resurrection of Christ is not just ancillary to the Christian faith. It's not something that we tack on to Christianity to make us feel good.

01:38:38

The resurrection is the heart and soul of the Christian faith. It is the heart and soul of Christian doctrine. Paul said in 1

01:38:44

Corinthians 15, 17, if Christ has not risen, your faith is worthless and you are still in your sins.

01:38:50

In fact, Paul argues that if Christ has not risen from the dead, then you actually have no valid object of faith.

01:38:57

If Christ has not risen, it doesn't matter how strong your faith is. It doesn't matter how sincere your faith is.

01:39:03

It doesn't matter how fervent you are in placing your faith in Christ. If he has not risen, he is not a valid object of faith.

01:39:11

You are a fool if he has not risen from the dead. Faith or belief that is connected to the literal, historical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the heart and center of Christianity.

01:39:22

And without that, you and I have nothing. Without the resurrection of Christ, what have you placed your faith in?

01:39:28

A mere man who claimed to be God. He claimed to be the life. He claimed to be one with the

01:39:34

Father. He claimed to be the divine Son. He made all kinds of outlandish claims, as if like the fact that the destiny of all men who have ever lived would hinge upon him, that he would be the judge of all men or the savior of those who repent and believe upon him for salvation.

01:39:51

That is an outlandish claim if he has not risen from the dead. If Christ has not risen, then you and I have no valid object of faith.

01:39:59

If he has not risen, then there is no forgiveness of sins. There's no forgiveness of sins. Paul says, you're still in your sins if Christ has not risen.

01:40:07

But in Romans chapter four, verse 25, it says he was raised for our justification. You see, the resurrection of Christ is the proof.

01:40:14

It is the proof, the historical, observable, verifiable, and falsifiable proof that our sins have been forgiven.

01:40:22

Because that was the Father's demonstration that the sacrifice of the Son was sufficient to atone for the sins of any and all who would believe upon him.

01:40:30

And if he has not risen, then there is no forgiveness of sins. That means no sufficient payment for sins has ever been made if he has not risen.

01:40:39

If he has not risen, then you are pitiful or pathetic, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. We are of all men most to be pitied.

01:40:46

If Christ has not risen, then why do you waste your time in prayer, praying to a God who has no reason to hear your prayer, no reason to give any ear to you whatsoever?

01:40:54

Because if he has not risen, then that means that his sacrifice did not bring you into the presence of God.

01:41:00

It did not bring you near to him. And if he has not risen, then he is certainly not interceding for you at the

01:41:05

Father's right hand, giving you a hearing in his presence. So there's no purpose to prayer. And if he has not risen, then you waste your time and your energy reading the

01:41:13

Bible. Because it's just a collection of verses and books written by obviously delusional men who thought they saw a risen

01:41:20

Christ three days after he was crucified. So if he has not risen, then do us all a favor after the service today, go home and burn your

01:41:27

Bibles. Because they're not worth the pages that they're printed on, if he has not risen. And if he has not risen, then you are wasting your time in holy and obedient living by saying no to yourself and denying yourself and mortifying sin and resisting temptation and seeking to pursue holiness, which scripture says without which no one will see the

01:41:45

Lord. All of your efforts at obedience and holiness and righteousness in this life, all of your efforts to serve one another, to love one another, they are all useless if he has not risen.

01:41:56

If he has not risen, then there is no hope for anything beyond this life. You have no hope for eternal life.

01:42:02

You have no hope for the forgiveness of sins. There is nothing yet to come. You are going to live this life. And in the words of Solomon, you're gonna get to the end of it and realize that it was all vanity and you're gonna go into the grave and you are gonna become worm food.

01:42:14

And there is no future for you. There is no judgment to come. There's no eternal justice. There is no life beyond the grave.

01:42:20

There is no hope for a new heavens and a new earth. This world is the very best that you have to experience.

01:42:27

This world is the very best that you will ever experience. So eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow you die if there is no resurrection.

01:42:37

So a lot that hinges on the resurrection, right? I mean, truly, if Christ has not risen, then Macbeth was right.

01:42:44

Life is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing. And yet, in pulpits all across this land, well, maybe not now because these kinds of churches are shut down, but in pulpits all across this land, unbelieving and unsaved pastors will stand behind their pulpits and they will say to their people that you don't need to believe in the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ to be a good

01:43:10

Christian. In fact, they will say that the resurrection of Christ really is not the heart and soul of the

01:43:16

Christian faith. What is really important is that He lives within our hearts, lives within us.

01:43:23

That's really, it's more a metaphor for how good we can be and what God can do inside of us.

01:43:30

Now that is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing. The resurrection is not just all we have, it is everything we have and it is everything.

01:43:42

When the apostles preached Christ, they preached Christ crucified, buried, and risen again. And that was the heart and soul of the apostolic message.

01:43:50

In fact, if you look through the book of Acts, you will see that the apostles did not sermonize about the love of God. They didn't sermonize about social justice.

01:43:56

They didn't sermonize about making us all one or the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God and the neighborhood of Kootenai.

01:44:02

They didn't sermonize about any of those things at all. What they did preach was Christ crucified, buried, and risen again and it wasn't just part of the apostolic message, it was the apostolic message.

01:44:14

In every synagogue, in every city, before every group of people on Mars Hill, the apostles could hardly open their mouths without declaring the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

01:44:24

And we have an example of one such sermon in Acts 13 and that is our text for this morning. So if you have not turned there yet,

01:44:30

I would encourage you to do so, Acts 13. We're going to look at one of the apostle

01:44:36

Paul's sermons. In fact, it is his first recorded sermon on his first missionary journey.

01:44:42

And Dr. Luke, in recording this sermon, gives us quite, this is the longest, I think, of Paul's recorded sermons in the book of Acts.

01:44:50

And it is the first one that we have from the lips of the apostle Paul. And so first, a little bit of context with Acts 13.

01:44:57

The apostle Paul first comes on the scene back in Acts chapter nine, sorry, and back in Acts chapter seven after Stephen was stoned, but then he is converted in Acts chapter nine.

01:45:05

And after a few years of being by himself and eventually ministering in the town of Antioch, the apostle

01:45:11

Paul was called, along with Barnabas and John Mark, to a missionary journey. So that is Acts chapter 13, verse one.

01:45:17

That first missionary journey, they set out from Pisidian Antioch and they headed due northwest across the

01:45:23

Mediterranean Sea to an island of Cyprus. They crossed that island from one end to another preaching Christ. They left on the northern end of the

01:45:29

Isle of Cyprus and traveled up to Asia Minor, which is modern day Turkey, and then sort of taking a north and eastern circular route back around to Pisidian, around to the city of Antioch, where they had started.

01:45:41

They came through a number of churches, sorry, a number of cities, Lystra and Derbe and Iconium, and eventually on to a town called

01:45:48

Pisidian Antioch. And in that city of Pisidian Antioch, that is where Luke records this sermon that Paul gave.

01:45:55

And I read it at the beginning of the sermon or the beginning of the service today. You saw that after that travel plan, when they stopped in the city of Pisidian Antioch, they went into the synagogue, as was their custom.

01:46:09

And the leaders of the synagogue said, brethren, men, brethren, if you have something to say, stand up and say it. It was a custom of that day that a traveling rabbi would have an opportunity to address the rest of the synagogue there.

01:46:19

So the Apostle Paul, being a student of Scripture, stood up and he began to preach there in that synagogue. And the

01:46:24

Apostle Paul does something very interesting. He doesn't begin with the resurrection. He doesn't begin with sinfulness. He doesn't begin with any of those things.

01:46:30

He actually begins with a survey of Israel's history. He goes back to Abraham and into the Exodus and God called him out of Exodus and brought them into the wilderness and gave him a time of judges.

01:46:39

And then they asked for a king and they got Saul and Saul was not a bad king, so they raised up David, a man after whom God said,

01:46:44

David pursues my heart. And to David, God gave certain promises. And now he has fulfilled some of those promises.

01:46:52

And the point of the Apostle Paul in giving all of that survey of the history of Israel was to demonstrate that what he is about to declare to them concerning Jesus Christ is not something that just comes out of the blue.

01:47:03

This is the fulfillment of everything God had promised in the nation of Israel. There was a long redemptive history that God had been working out and unfolding over the ages, all of which they were aware of and they knew.

01:47:13

So then he places the coming of Christ, the death of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ in the context of that redemptive work of God.

01:47:20

It is all centered around the nation of Israel and the promises that God gave to the nation of Israel.

01:47:26

So we have in Acts chapter 13, if you just look at the context, he begins that history in verse 16.

01:47:31

The God of this people Israel chose our, the God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt.

01:47:38

And then he traces it all the way down through the end of verse 22, where he talks about David being one who would pursue after God's heart and do all of his will from the descendants of this man, according to promise

01:47:48

God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus. So he is endeavoring to show in verses 23 through 25 that the coming of Christ, the arrival of the

01:47:57

Messiah was the fulfillment of the promise that God made to David. God had promised something to David.

01:48:03

You will have a descendant and that descendant will sit upon your throne and establish your kingdom and rule over it in righteousness and he will rule the nations forever.

01:48:11

It will be an everlasting kingdom and to that kingdom, there will be no end. That was what God promised David. So in accordance with the keeping of that promise,

01:48:18

God has sent this Savior, Jesus. Then in verse 26, he talks about those, how about Christ being crucified, also a fulfillment of promise.

01:48:27

Brethren, sons of Abraham's family and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

01:48:33

Those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers recognizing neither him nor the utterance of the prophets, which are read every

01:48:39

Sabbath, fulfilled these condemning him. They fulfilled the prophetic word, the promises of God by condemning

01:48:45

Christ, even the crucifixion of Christ. His condemnation and his execution was a fulfillment of divine promise.

01:48:51

Verse 28, and though they found no ground for putting him to death, they asked Pilate that he be executed. And when they had carried out all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.

01:49:00

All of this was the fulfillment of promise. So the coming of Christ was a fulfillment of God's redemptive promises to the nation of Israel.

01:49:06

The execution of Christ was a fulfillment of God's promises to the nation of Israel, his redemptive promises.

01:49:12

And now in verses 30 to 37, and this is the bulk of the message. This is the heart of Paul's message. He's been building up to this all the way from the very beginning, he's been building up to this point.

01:49:21

From verse 30 to 37, the apostle is endeavoring to show that the resurrection of Christ was also a fulfillment of God's redemptive promises to the nation of Israel.

01:49:30

So beginning in verse seven, sorry, beginning in verse 30, we're gonna notice three key points about the resurrection.

01:49:36

First, that the resurrection was witnessed by people in verses 30 to 31. It was the heart of apostolic preaching in verse 32, and that it was a fulfillment of God's promises in verses 33 and 37.

01:49:47

First, it was witnessed by the people, look at verse 30. But God raised him from the dead. This is in the context of verse 29 and 28.

01:49:53

They found no guilt for him, but they put him to death. They asked Pilate that he be executed. Verse 29, when they had carried out all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb, but God raised him from the dead.

01:50:05

I almost get the sense that the apostle Paul couldn't wait to get to that point. I mean, he had to start way back with Abraham and Egypt and coming out of Egypt and the land of Canaan and that promise and God gave them the land and then the judges and then the kings and then

01:50:18

David and the promises to David. He's been building up to this. This is the crescendo and he gets to the death and the execution of this one.

01:50:26

And any Jew there who was unfamiliar with the story, which would have likely been all of them, any Jew there would have been wondering, now, how does this story end?

01:50:33

God gave all of these promises to the nation. He fulfilled the land and he brought us into the land and then he promised to David a descendant and then the descendant shows up and they execute him, they kill him.

01:50:44

Is that how this story ends? You get the sense the apostle Paul couldn't wait to say verse 30, but God raised him from the dead.

01:50:50

This is really the key to the whole thing. God raised him from the dead and for many days, he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem.

01:51:00

This resurrection was witnessed by the people. And the bulk of the apostle's time here is spent on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the centrality of it.

01:51:08

Now, that declaration in verse 30, God raised him from the dead, that is a verifiable and a falsifiable statement. In other words, it can be easily falsified.

01:51:16

Now, when I say to you that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the heart and soul of Christianity and without that, we have nothing else, that means that if it could be proven that Jesus Christ did not raise from the dead, there is no what?

01:51:27

There's no Christianity. That means we have nothing else. If the body was eaten by worms, if the body decayed, if the body did not come out of the tomb, if it could have been shown that there was a dead body in that tomb on the third day and not a risen

01:51:41

Christ, if it could be proved that all of those resurrection appearances were nothing more than hallucinations or fabrications, or if it could be proven that the disciples stole the body or that the

01:51:51

Roman soldiers stole the body, if it could somehow be proved that Christ is not risen, then all of Christianity crumbles to the ground.

01:51:58

It is a falsifiable claim that God has raised him from the dead. That is either true or it is false.

01:52:04

And if it is false, so is your faith. If it is true, then everything in Scripture is true. God raised him from the dead.

01:52:11

And he appeared to, verse 31, those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now his witnesses to the people.

01:52:20

Now, the first witnesses to the resurrection were not the men who are mentioned here. Paul doesn't say he appeared first to them.

01:52:26

He just says he appeared to them. He appeared to them and to many others who came with him from Galilee to Jerusalem.

01:52:32

That's the disciples. These are the 12 men who followed Jesus, minus Judas, of course.

01:52:37

So we would say the 11. He followed, he appeared to the 11. And Paul also himself was a witness to the resurrection of Christ.

01:52:44

So your faith and my faith and the testimony of Scripture, this rests upon solid and reliable eyewitness testimony.

01:52:51

There were eyewitnesses who saw the risen Christ three days after he died. And they saw not only a risen

01:52:56

Christ, but many of these same eyewitnesses were eyewitnesses of everything that had preceded that. Think of all of the other things of that Passion Week to which there were countless thousands of eyewitnesses.

01:53:07

And all of this would have been public knowledge to anybody in and around Jerusalem. That he was charged falsely before Pontius Pilate, and he stood trial before Pontius Pilate, that would have been a public trial.

01:53:19

The other trials that he had, that Jesus faced that night before he was crucified, some of those would have been public trials, some of them would have been private trials.

01:53:28

There were five different trials that he endured over the course of that night, appearing before Pontius once and before Caiaphas at least twice.

01:53:35

And those would have been witnessed by people hostile to Christ as well as friends of Christ. And then his crucifixion was public.

01:53:42

He was hung on a cross outside of the city of Jerusalem, outside the city gate, in public view of all of the pilgrims who had come to the city of Jerusalem for Passover.

01:53:51

And as they walked by that main road into the city of Jerusalem, they would have walked by the two thieves and Jesus Christ in the center of them being crucified.

01:53:59

All of his abuse and all of his mistreatment was before the eyes of hostile enemies as well as before the eyes of his friends and sympathizers.

01:54:08

And it would have been public view in front of all of those people, his crucifixion. And then after he was crucified, he was publicly pierced with a spear and he was publicly certified as dead by the

01:54:18

Roman soldiers and the centurions who then turned the body over to Joseph of Arimathea. And Joseph of Arimathea was not the only one who handled the body and prepared it for burial.

01:54:27

So we are talking about dozens and hundreds of people who were very close to the events of the crucifixion and thousands of them who would have walked by and were witnesses to the crucifixion.

01:54:35

Everything that had happened to our Lord on Good Friday and all of that week prior, everything of it had been done before the eyes of men, before witnesses.

01:54:45

So all of the claims of the gospels regarding what Christ has done and who he is and what he claimed and what he did and his crucifixion, all of them are verifiable or falsifiable statements.

01:54:56

All of those events taking place in public view and his resurrection is no less certifiable and verifiable.

01:55:03

Because after he was raised from the dead, then he appeared to Mary and then he appeared to Peter and then he appeared to John and then he appeared to the 11 and then he appeared to,

01:55:11

I'm sorry, the 11 minus Thomas and then a week later to all of the 11 who were there. And at one point,

01:55:17

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, he appeared to over 500 witnesses at one time, 500 of them.

01:55:23

Over the next 40 days, he appeared in various locations to various groups of people at various times of the day, so much so that Luke says in Acts chapter one that he presented himself alive after his sufferings with many convincing proofs.

01:55:39

He presented himself alive with many convincing proofs over the course of those 40 days. So that all that he said and all that he did and the testimony concerning him, it was all verifiable and certifiable and of course, all of it then is falsifiable as well.

01:55:54

And the apostolic testimony, the apostles were not the only ones to see him alive. In fact, if you were to take all 500 of those witnesses who saw him on that one occasion and give each of them five minutes to testify and to testify as to what they had seen with their own eyes, eyewitnesses, that would be over 50 hours of eyewitness testimony.

01:56:12

That'd be the most lopsided trial in all of human history. 50 hours of eyewitnesses who said yes, we saw him dead and we saw him alive.

01:56:22

Some of them said yes, we saw him dead and we saw him alive and we touched him and we spoke with him and we ate with him and he taught us and we were with him for 40 days.

01:56:32

Your faith rests on the reliable testimony of eyewitnesses recorded for us in scripture.

01:56:39

So it was seen by people. Second, it is the heart of gospel preaching.

01:56:44

Look at verse 32. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers. This is the central aspect of what

01:56:50

Paul did. This is central to everything he did. We have come here to preach the good news and this is the good news that he has fulfilled the promise that he made to our fathers and the resurrection you're gonna see in verses 33 and following is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and promises.

01:57:04

First Corinthians 15, the passage in the resurrection chapter that defines the gospel.

01:57:10

Paul says, I deliver to you as of first importance what I received, that Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

01:57:19

Paul's pointing back to the Old Testament and he's saying, based upon the Old Testament testimony and according to the promises

01:57:25

God made to the nation of Israel, those redemptive promises, God has fulfilled that by raising

01:57:30

Christ from the dead. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central testimony of apostolic preaching.

01:57:40

It was the heart of New Testament belief because the apostles did not sermonize on moral principles nor did they sermonize on loving your neighbor nor did they sermonize on the love of God.

01:57:51

What they did preach constantly and consistently was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ crucified, buried, and risen again for the salvation of his people.

01:58:01

That is the heart of the gospel. Now let me ask you a question. Is this statement, God loves me, is that good news?

01:58:09

No, that's not good news, not without the gospel. I know it's a trick question. Some of you are nodding your heads. I caught you with that. I understand that.

01:58:15

That is not good news, not without the gospel. What do you mean? God loves me, but he can't take care of my most fundamental problem, which is the fact that I'm going to die and I will stay dead.

01:58:31

He loves me, but he can't raise me from the dead. Is that good news? That's not good news. How about this, that God loves you and sent his son to die for your sin, is that good news?

01:58:40

No, it's not. I'm sorry, some of you are raising your head. It's like you weren't there for the first question. The first question was a trick question.

01:58:46

I caught some of you and then I caught some of you on the second question. Is that statement good news? No, not without the resurrection, it's not.

01:58:52

So you mean that God can love me and send his son to die for my sin, but then he can't raise his own son from the dead?

01:58:59

And if he can't raise his own son from the dead, then what hope do I have? He lived a perfect life. He was sinless, he was divine.

01:59:07

And if the father can't raise his son from the dead, then what hope is there that I will stand in the resurrection and see him face to face?

01:59:14

What hope is there that I can have my sins forgiven and experience blessed and everlasting life? That's not good news, not without the resurrection.

01:59:21

Now this statement, God loves me and he sent his son to die for my sins and he rose again the third day, is that good news?

01:59:29

Don't be so shy, it's only two, there's only two trick questions in a row. Yes, that is good news, because that includes the resurrection.

01:59:38

So you and I serve and worship and love a God who loved us, gave his son to die in the place of us, and then he rose from the dead, that is good news.

01:59:48

And if we don't have that to preach, we don't have anything to preach. If we don't have that to offer to the world, we have nothing. That is the heart and soul of the

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Christian gospel, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection, all of the other claims, all of the other things that we might think are good and lovely and fine and pure and true, they're meaningless.

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Because without the resurrection, there's no power behind any of it. Now third, the resurrection is a fulfillment of God's promise.

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Beginning at verse 33, you'll notice that the apostle Paul quotes from three different Old Testament texts. You see a quotation from the

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Old Testament in verse 33, in verse 34, and in verse 35. The quotation from verse 33 is from Psalm 2.

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The Old Testament quotation in verse 34 is from Isaiah 55. And the Old Testament quotation that is in verse 35 is from Psalm 16.

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Psalm 2, Isaiah 55, and Psalm 16. Now I understand that if you are used to being here on a

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Sunday morning, we're covering a lot more material than you are used to as the standard fare for what we do here on a

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Sunday morning. I'm going to cover each one of these psalms, these quotations from the psalms, and explain to you why it is that the apostle is quoting from each of these places from the

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Old Testament, and then how all three of these quotations go together to build a case, the case for the necessity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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The first quotation is from Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is a messianic psalm written by David.

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It was obviously not speaking of David himself. David was looking forward as one who had received God's promise.

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David was looking forward to the fulfillment of that promise. Namely, the promise was that God would give him a descendant who would rule over his kingdom forever in a kingdom that would last forever.

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That was the promise that God had given to David. So David, anticipating that, he describes in Psalm 2 this one who would come who would be his son, but he would also be the son of God.

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So verse 33, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children, and that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second psalm.

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You are my son, today I have begotten you. Now there, David is putting these words in the lips of the father in heaven.

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The father who says to the son, who is also the son of David, a descendant of David. The father says to the son, you are my son, today

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I have begotten you. Now it's interesting how the apostle uses this quotation from Psalm 2. He uses it in a very peculiar way.

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Namely, the apostle sees the reference to begotten, which means literally brought forth. He sees this as a reference to the resurrection.

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Namely, that Christ in the grave being brought forth fulfills this prophecy or this promise that he is the begotten one.

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So the father says to the son, you are my son, today on resurrection day or on the day of the resurrection,

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I have brought you forth. The apostle Paul says that the resurrection fulfilled Psalm 2.

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And what's interesting about Psalm 2 is that this promise was to one who is a son of David, also a son of God, the son of God, and that this one is declared to be

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God's son through this being begotten. You are my son, today I have begotten you.

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This is the declaration of the father to the son. And it kind of is reminiscent of Paul's words in Romans chapter one, verse four, when he says that Christ was declared to be the son of God with power by resurrection from the dead.

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The resurrection of Christ from the dead declared his divinity and declared him to be the son of God because Christ claimed to be

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God, he claimed to be the son of God, he claimed to be one with the father in substance, in nature, in purpose, and in essence.

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And since that is what he claimed, his resurrection from the grave was a vindication that all of his claims to divinity were true.

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So the resurrection is God's declaration that Christ, that descendant of David, is also the son of God.

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You are my son, today I have begotten you. God declared him to be the son through that resurrection. Now here's the issue.

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David, anticipating what God was going to do in fulfilling his promises, David had a number of sons, and those sons had sons, and those sons had sons, because David lived 1 ,000 years before Christ.

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By the time of Christ, David would have had thousands of descendants, thousands of them. So here's the question. How would you know which one of those thousands of descendants would fulfill that promise?

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How would you know? How could you know of which one of those descendants would sit and rule the nations over David's throne?

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There would have to be some way that God would indicate which of those descendants was the promised

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Messiah. How did God indicate that? By raising him from the dead. That's how you know which one, because the father has said, of Christ, you are my son, because today, he raised him from the dead.

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The father says, of Christ, you are my son, today I have begotten you. That indicates which of David's descendants would end up fulfilling all the promises that God gave to David.

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That's Psalm 2. Because God had promised to David a descendant, the

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Lord, the father, has indicated which of those descendants is the fulfillment of promise by raising him from the dead.

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Now, this resurrection had to take place. This is the argument for the next quotation, the argument from the next quotation in Isaiah 55.

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That's in verse 34. As for the fact that he raised him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, he has spoken in this way,

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I will give you the holy and sure blessing of David. I will give you the holy and sure blessing of David.

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Now, that is a reference to Isaiah 55, verse three. It's a quotation from Isaiah 55, verse three, which reads this, incline your ear and come to me, listen, that you may live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful mercy shown to David.

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And the apostle is borrowing that phrase from Isaiah 55, which you'll remember is right in the context of another very important chapter from Isaiah, Isaiah 53.

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He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquity. In Isaiah 55, there is a connection here between that one who was bruised for our iniquity and who was wounded for our transgressions and the one who would fulfill all of these promises that are given to David.

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Now, that verse, Isaiah 55, verse three, as well as Paul's quotation of that here in this passage in Acts chapter 13, that verse is referring to the heart of the

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Davidic covenant. In other words, there was a covenant made with David and the singular, most significant promise of the

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Davidic covenant is given in 2 Samuel 7, verses 15 and 16, where the

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Lord said this, my lovingkindness shall not depart from him as I took it away from Saul, whom

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I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever. Your throne shall be established forever.

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This is what the Lord promised David, your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever. Your throne shall be established forever.

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Here's the heart of the promise that God made to David. I will raise up for you a descendant.

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I will seat him on your throne and that descendant will rule over the kingdom that I am giving to you and he will rule over that kingdom forever and there will be no end to your house and there will be no end to your kingdom.

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That was the promise that God gave to David and that is the central provision of the Davidic covenant.

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So now the question is, how can a man rule over the kingdom of David forever? How can that happen?

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Whoever heard of a king who rules and he rules forever and he never grows old and hands that kingdom off to his son who grows old and hands the kingdom off to another son.

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Whoever heard of a king who takes the throne and rules all the nations and does so everlastingly, world without end, without any end to that kingdom.

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How could that promise be fulfilled? And even more significantly, how could that promise be fulfilled if that king is rejected by the nation and suffers and dies under the curse of God on a cross outside of Jerusalem?

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How could that promise ever be fulfilled? Only if God raises him from the dead. And here's the apostle's point.

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God promised to David a king and a kingdom. Therefore, the resurrection had to happen.

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It could not be any other way. And in the resurrection, God fulfilled his word to David.

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See, here's the king that will rule. He will rule forever because he is not subject to decay. He can't die.

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Having died once, he dies no more. Having died once, he lives forevermore. Death no longer has dominion over him.

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He can no longer and never again be subject to death. Therefore, being immortal and being glorious and being glorified, he can sit on David's throne and he can rule and reign forever and ever and never hand that kingdom off to a descendant.

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He can do this because he has been raised from the dead and therefore he lives forevermore. And in being able to take that throne, he is able to fulfill all of the word that God gave to David.

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You're gonna have a son who will rule forever. Who ever heard of such a thing? Well, if the son dies and rises again and takes that throne, he can rule forever, everlastingly, and never again be subject to death or defeat.

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Isn't that glorious news? That is the fulfillment of the promise to David. Now, the promises to David could not be fulfilled spiritually or metaphorically, nor could they be fulfilled by him reigning in our hearts or by reigning from heaven or by sitting on a spiritual throne in heaven or ruling over a spiritual kingdom because all of those things could happen without him ever rising again from the dead physically.

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But if it is only through a literal kingdom and a literal reign in the city of Jerusalem from a literal throne, if that is the fulfillment of the promise to David, then it required bodily resurrection.

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Now, this is a little bit of a theological nugget. It's more than you'd bargain for this morning, but here it is.

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If the fulfillment of the Davidic promise required physical resurrection for it to take place, then the apostle

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Paul was neither an amillennialist nor a postmillennialist. Because amillennialism and postmillennialism do not require physical resurrection to fulfill any of the promises to David.

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What is Paul's argument? For God to fulfill his promise to David, he had to raise

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Christ physically from the dead. Now, that argument is the very same argument that the apostle

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Peter makes in Acts chapter two when he says the same thing in dealing with Acts chapter 16, or sorry, with Psalm chapter 16.

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And that's the third passage that the apostle Paul quotes in verse 35. Therefore, he also says in another

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Psalm, you will not allow your Holy One to undergo decay. Now, Paul there is quoting from Psalm 16, verse 10, you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your

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Holy One to undergo decay. That is the same passage, Psalms 16, that Peter quotes back in Acts chapter two.

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In fact, there's a very interesting parallel between Acts chapter two and Acts chapter 13. And here's the parallel. In Acts chapter two, it's

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Peter's very first sermon that is ever recorded, and he is giving it to a Jewish audience. And here's what Peter argues.

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Peter argues that the Christ had to rise from the dead because the promises given to David required bodily resurrection from the dead.

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And since the promises given to David required bodily resurrection from the dead, the Christ had to suffer and rise again so that he could fulfill those promises.

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And God has raised him from the dead, and thus he has fulfilled those promises. That's Peter's argument in Acts chapter two. Here, I'll lay it out for you.

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Here's what Peter says. Because you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow your Holy One to go decay.

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Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

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And so because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and he spoke of the resurrection of the

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Christ, that he, that is the Christ, was neither, that he, the Christ, was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay.

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This Jesus God raised up to which we are all witnesses. Do you hear what Peter said? He's making the same argument the

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Apostle Paul made. Luke does this intentionally. Luke does this intentionally between Acts two and Acts 13 to show that the

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Apostle Paul, he preached the exact same gospel that the Apostle Peter preached back in Acts chapter two. Though Paul was the apostle of the

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Gentiles and Peter was the apostle to the Jews, they made the same arguments, they used the same text of scriptures, and they preached the very same gospel.

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And in both of their first sermons that are recorded by Luke in the book of Acts, they make the exact same argument, because David knew that God had promised to seat one of his descendants on his throne and to rule in a literal kingdom forever.

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God had to raise him from the dead, and God raised him from the dead. And in thus doing, he has fulfilled this word, and Jesus Christ will come back and he will rule and reign forever.

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That's the argument that Paul makes. That's the very same argument that Peter made back in Acts chapter two.

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Look how Paul says it in verse 36, for David, after he had served the purpose of God, in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay, but he whom

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God raised did not undergo decay. Here's what Paul is saying from Psalm 16.

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Paul is saying that this one, David, who wrote Acts 16, promising that he would not allow his Holy One to undergo decay,

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David decayed. Therefore, the Holy One was not David. David was not the fulfillment of that promise. Instead, David was looking forward to the fulfillment of this promise, and he knew that whoever was to take that throne and rule forever could not be subject to decay.

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Therefore, God had to raise him from the dead so that he would die no more. That's what David knew.

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So David, 1 ,000 years before Christ, anticipated the fulfillment of that promise and said, therefore,

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God would raise one from the dead, and that one will never undergo decay, and Jesus Christ did not. So that's

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Psalm 2, Isaiah 55, and Psalm 16. How do they tie together? Psalm 2, God was looking forward to the fulfillment that he would make to David.

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God would indicate which one of those descendants would take the throne by raising him from the dead. In Isaiah 53, because God made those promises to David which require physical resurrection and a physical taking of that throne and a physical, literal kingdom,

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God had to raise David from the dead, or sorry, God had to raise Jesus from the dead to fulfill those promises. And David, anticipating that those promises must be fulfilled, he looked forward and anticipated that whoever would fulfill them would be the one that God would declare to be his son by resurrection from the dead, and he would also be the one who would never suffer decay.

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Why? So that the promises that God made to the nation of Israel would be fulfilled, and that the promises that God made to their children and to you and I would be fulfilled.

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And we get in on those salvation blessings because God, in fulfillment of promise, foreordained the crucifixion of the

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Messiah, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. God keeps his promises.

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This is what David is arguing. This is what Peter argued. God keeps his promises, and the resurrection is the fulfillment of those promises.

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Now, there are two other promises that you should know about because both of these promises, connected with resurrection, have to do with you.

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First, there is the promise of judgment to come. See, this Jesus who's been raised from the dead, he made some outlandish claims.

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One of them was that one day he would say the word and all men would come out of the graves, some to a resurrection of life and some to a resurrection of judgment.

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John chapter five, verse 25, Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is. When the dead will hear the voice of the

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Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the

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Son also to have life in himself, and he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth.

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Those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life and those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

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Jesus Christ claimed that all men would stand before him and be judged, that it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes judgment.

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And all men will stand before him, either as he is their savior or he is their judge. But there is no other option, either savior or judge.

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And if you stand before him and he is your judge, then you have absolutely nothing to fear as long as you've never sinned.

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As long as you've never sinned, you have absolutely nothing to fear. If you've ever sinned in thought, word, or deed, then you have a serious issue.

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But if you've never sinned, you're good to go because you don't need a savior to deliver you from a wrath that doesn't exist if you haven't sinned.

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So if you're good, if you've never blasphemed God's name, taken his name in vain, you've never lied, you've never stolen anything, you've never had an immoral or lustful thought, you've never hated anybody in your heart, you've perfectly honored your parents and perfectly worshiped the one true

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God for your entire life, every moment of your life, from the moment of your birth all the way until this moment right now, if you are perfect in thought, word, and deed, and you have never sinned in any way, then on judgment day, you're good to go.

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You don't need a savior. But I happen to know that that doesn't describe anybody in this room. Because Scripture says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

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And Scripture promises that the one who has taken God's name in vain, God will not hold him guiltless. And that all liars will have their part in the lake that burns with fire.

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That is what Scripture promises. And since Scripture promises that God will fulfill his promise of judging any and all who will not repent and believe in the son whom he has sent to bear their sin.

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So if you have sinned, there is the promise of divine judgment. God has promised that he will deal with every single sin that has ever been committed in this life by every person who has ever lived.

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Those sins will either be punished on you everlastingly in a place of eternal conscious torment, or those sins have been borne by the

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Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross in the place of sinners so that they could be declared innocent and go free.

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Those are the two options. God keeps his promise, all of his promises.

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And he has promised that there is a judgment that is to come. And he has given proof of this judgment that is to come by raising

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Christ from the dead. This is what Paul says in Acts 17. God commands all men to repent, for he has declared that he will fix the day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, and he has furnished proof to all men by raising that judge from the dead.

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So that all of us will stand before Christ, he will either be your savior or he will be your judge. Christ came to die so that guilty sinners may receive his grace and his forgiveness and live everlastingly.

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But you must come to God on his terms, in his terms of repentance and faith. Since he's the one that you have angered, since he is the one you've sinned against, you must come to him on his terms.

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He commands you to repent, that's to turn from your sin, and to believe and trust that the salvation, that the sacrifice of the

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Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient to pay the price for your sin. And if you will repent and believe and trust in him, he will give you eternal life and everlasting life.

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The second promise that has to do with you is that if you do come to this savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and repent of your sins, there is the promise that there is no condemnation to you who are in Christ Jesus.

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No condemnation. That there is no sin to answer for, there is no sin for which you will be judged, you're not going to be punished, you don't need to be purged.

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You can have complete and perfect forgiveness, as Paul says in verse 37, verse 38 of Acts chapter 13, therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through him everyone who believes is freed from all the things which you could not be freed through the law of Moses.

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See, the law of Moses condemns you, but in Jesus Christ you can be forgiven and freed from all that condemns you under the law of Moses.

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Condemned for your sin, condemned for your lying, condemned for your blasphemy, condemned for your idolatry, condemned for your lust, condemned for your hatred, your gossip, your slander, your greed, condemned for all of that, but in Jesus Christ, no condemnation to those who are in him.

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Why? Because the perfect son of God came to this world and he lived a perfect life and he died on the cross, paying the price, making atonement, and giving his life so that he may pay the price for the wrath of God that you and I deserve.

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We did the sinning and he bore the penalty for that sin, so that those who are in him can have the assurance that they are free from the penalty of divine wrath, free from the wrath of God because of what

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Christ has done. The law of Moses does not offer that. The law of Moses cannot provide that. Keeping the 10 commandments cannot provide that, but Christ can provide that because he is the one who died and rose again.

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The judge, believer, Christian, the judge bore your judgment. The judge took your judgment.

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So if you are in Jesus Christ by virtue of repentance and faith in him, you will never stand before him as your judge.

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You will stand before him as your savior because he took the punishment that you and I deserve. So if you're sitting here this morning and you are a believer, then the message of this salvation is good news indeed.

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For in the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ in his perfect life and his perfect death, he has paid the price for your sin.

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And you have eternal life. His life, his death, and then his living is your life. And if you're sitting here this morning and you've never trusted

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Christ for salvation, then you know exactly what it is that you must do. You must repent and believe or you will stand before him and you will see his wrath and you will face his wrath.

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And if you die this afternoon unrepentant, the service and what you heard here today will be one of the last opportunities you have to trust

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Christ and embrace him for salvation. And if you will not, he will judge you and you will deserve it and you will recognize that you will deserve it.

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He is risen. He is risen indeed. And every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord to the glory of God the Father. Let's pray. Amen. Father, we rejoice in the great salvation that you have purchased and procured through your son.

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Through his death, through his resurrection, we have eternal life. And his resurrection is our resurrection.

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It is our victory. It is our hope we have beyond the grave. Hope not only in this life but also in the life to come.

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Because of what he has done, we are free and we live and we thank you for that in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Amen. ♪

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Let us all stand upon his throne ♪ ♪

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Hark how the heavenly anthem tries so loud to sing ♪ ♪

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Of him who died for me ♪ ♪ And hail him as my matchless king throughout eternity ♪

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He shall not fail, throughout all his victorious in the strife, for those he came to save, his glory shall he save, who died and rose on high.

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He lives that death may die.

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When winter dies, with a blast of icy wind, like a mournful cry, it's giving up the ghost again.

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Another sheet of snow melts away to golden green. Look at Peter go, he's racing to the tomb to see.

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Where has my Jesus gone? He is not dead, he is risen, risen indeed.

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Now the flowers bloom like a song of freedom.